Lynn Gold's LiveJournal

January 1st, 2002

I'm at the radio station, it's a very slow newsday, and I've got a little less than an hour to go on my shift. I've written up everything I can.

Last night Diana and I went to Mike and Karen's party and had a good time. The smoked salmon I got from Ralph's Smokehouse courtesy of the radio station (we all got $25 gift certificates for the place -- yum!), the cream cheese (actually neufchatel) was on sale for half price at Safeway, and they had a few bags of mini-bagels left (not great ones, but passable).

I took them home, rested, entered last night's retrospective into LJ, then changed for the party. I never made it to the other party because I was too tired and run down from the sinus infection, but I was not going to miss Mike and Karen's party, come hell or highwater. I still remember very unfondly the last time I stayed home for New Year's Eve, when I missed a party so cool I still talk about it even though I wasn't there.

Specifically, my parents forced me to stay home with them when I was 21, threatening me with cutting off funding to my college education, when I was invited to a party in NYC attended by the children of "anyone who was anyone." A good friend of mine who went to the party told me about it, including who showed up. Most memorable was John F. Kennedy Jr. showing up and having a gaggle of babes hanging all over him. She said the people-watching was hysterical, and it would've been even more fun had the two of us been there together to comment back and forth on what we were seeing.

Instead, I was stuck at my parents' house. My paternal grandfather had died on the 20th, and my (Catholic) maternal grandmother was near enough to death that we all knew this was her last Christmas season. Nanny (my paternal grandmother) and Grandmom (my maternal grandmother) were both there under duress from my parents. The air was so morose you could cut it with a knife. Neither of my grandmothers wanted me there because they knew I really wanted to be with people my own age having a good time, and Jewish mourning law doesn't forbid a grandchild from partying after someone's death.

My parents were pleased with their achievement -- which, as far as I could see, involved making the three of us utterly miserable beyond any misery we were already feeling. After that I swore I'd never stay home on New Year's Eve or let myself be made that miserable again. So far I've succeeded.

Back to this year....

I made my cream cheese "cracked monolith" using ground black pepper and a toothpick, designing the cracks and writing "Good Bye 2001" on the block. I asked Warren if he could read it; he could. So could Diana. I wasn't sure how clear the lettering was. I really ought to buy a stencil set, but I couldn't justify the expense this year. Maybe next year....

The food was a hit. This year's nibblies were overall healthier than last year's. Mike and Karen supplied champagne of varying qualities and nummy cheeses she got at the local grocery outlet. Other goodies included nummy cheese straws Kathryn Dougherty made as part of her annual Christmas tradition, a big dish of broccoli and dill-based dip, a sugar-free cranberry and apricot tart that was pretty good, and my favorite for sheer silliness, CRUNCHY FROGS! I tried one; they really were crunchy. I had to explain to a few folks they were not the frogs from Harry Potter, but instead came out of a classic Monty Python routine.

I had a good time; so did Diana. The only thing I missed was being involved in some kind of bizarre, esoteric conversation like I've been in so many years earlier, such as "What would it be like to be living in Aztec civilization?" I didn't get in till after 3am, and my feet were killing me from wearing heels (I was wearing a dress, and Reeboks just don't go with women's elegant evening wear).

This morning I woke up around 9am when my alarm went off. I was flipping channels, comparing coverage of the annual "Tournament of Roses" parade. The NBC and independent teams seemed to have the best announcers, but CBS was later in the parade route, so by watching them I got to see more of the parade than I would have by watching the other TV stations.

It's kind of weird having the NBC affiliate be in San Jose instead of San Francisco, but IMHO it's long overdue. The population shifted southward 20 years ago, but the media has remained San Francisco-centric. Today the people in Oakland and Marin County are all bent out of shape because they need cable TV to get the local NBC affiliate. As far as I'm concerned, they can do something like what we've been doing and get a secondary affiliate in Santa Rosa or something. We've had to make do with being second-class citizens of the bay area too long.

Geez. I'm not used to being able to get away with spouting opinions while I'm at the radio station. It's kind of cool....

I just saw the time. My relief is scheduled to arrive in 25 minutes. He's the guy who attacked Warren, so I want this posted and all references to LJ deleted from the computer before he gets here, so I'm signing off now.